DRAM chipmaker Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) expects DRAM chip prices to stabilize in the second half, underpinned by rising demand for mobile phones and set-top boxes, a company executive said yesterday.
“DRAM prices are under [downward] pressure in the second quarter due to excessive inventories and weaker-than-expected demand for notebook computers,” Inotera chairman Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told reporters after the company’s annual general meeting.
“Demand for certain mobile phones and servers also disappointed,” Lee said.
Those unfavorable factors would weigh on DRAM chip prices, with the downtrend in the first quarter expected to extend to this quarter, he said.
However, the decline this quarter is to be milder than that in the first quarter and the outlook for the second half is better than in the first half, Lee said.
Lee said his confidence was built on growing demand for mobile phones, TVs and set-top boxes, as well as improving demand for servers and PCs.
Sales in those items would receive a seasonal boost during Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and the Olympic Games and Euro 2016 would prompt consumers to replace electronics equipment, he said.
In addition, growth in DRAM supply is expected to be better managed and become healthier in the second half, as makers of memory chips might allocate more capacity to NAND Flash production to cope with rising demand, he added.
Inotera is a joint venture between US-based Micron Technology Inc and Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) of Taiwan.
Micron is planning to buy a 24.6 percent stake in Inotera from Nanya, which Lee said might complete next month once Micron has received NT$80 billion (US$2.45 million) in syndicated loans to fund the share purchase.
Lee also serves as president of Nanya.
After the transaction, Inotera is to be delisted from the local bourse.
The companies on Tuesday received approval from the Investment Commission to proceed with the transaction.
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